Her Restless Heart: Stitches in Time - Book 1 [NOOK Book]

Overview

Mary Katherine is caught between the traditions of her faith and the pull of a different life. When Daniel, an Amish man living in Florida, arrives and shares her restlessness, Mary Katherine feels drawn to him and curious about the life he leads away from Lancaster County. But her longtime friend Jacob has been in love with her for years. He’s discouraged that she’s never viewed him as anything but a friend and despairs that he is about to lose Mary Katherine to this outsider. Will the conflicted Mary Katherine ...

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This Book

Overview

Mary Katherine is caught between the traditions of her faith and the pull of a different life. When Daniel, an Amish man living in Florida, arrives and shares her restlessness, Mary Katherine feels drawn to him and curious about the life he leads away from Lancaster County. But her longtime friend Jacob has been in love with her for years. He’s discouraged that she’s never viewed him as anything but a friend and despairs that he is about to lose Mary Katherine to this outsider. Will the conflicted Mary Katherine be lost to the English world, or to Daniel, who might take her away to Florida? Or will she embrace her Amish faith and recognize Jacob as the man she should marry and build a life with?

"You'll laugh and cry right alongside the characters in this story that tests a young woman's faith in God's plan for her life." - Loree Lough, best-selling author of more than 80 award-winning books, including From Ashes to Honor, #1 in the First Responders series

"Master storyteller Barbara Cameron instantly draws readers in with vivid description and powerful dialogue, as she offers a glimpse of Amish life while showing the universal human need for loving and being loved. Her Restless Heart will satisfy even the most discriminating romance fans." - Debby Mayne, author of Sweet Baklava and the upcoming Class Reunion series

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Meet the Author

Barbara Cameron has a heart for writing about the spiritual values and simple joys of the Amish. She is the best-selling author of more than 40 fiction and nonfiction books, three nationally televised movies, and the winner of the first Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award. Her books have been nominated for Carol Awards and the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award from RWA’s Faith, Hope, and Love chapter. Barbara resides in Jacksonville, Florida.

Read an Excerpt

Her Restless Heart

Stitches in Time Series

Abingdon Press

A year ago, Mary Katherine wouldn't have imagined she'd be here. Back then, she'd been helping her parents on the family farm and hating every minute of it.

Now, she stood at the front window of Stitches in Time, her grandmother's shop, watching the Englischers moving about on the sidewalks outside the shop in Paradise. Even on vacation, they rushed about with purpose. She imagined them checking off the places they'd visited: Drive by an Amish farmhouse. Check. Buy a quilt and maybe some knitting supplies to try making a sweater when I get back home. Check.

She liked the last item. The shop had been busy all morning, but now, as people started getting hungry, they were patronizing the restaurants that advertised authentic Amish food and ticking off another item on their vacation checklist. Shoofly pie. Amish pretzels. Chow-chow. Check.

"Don't you worry, they'll be back," Leah, her grandmother, called out.

Smiling, Mary Katherine turned. "I know."

She wandered back to the center of the shop, set up like the comfortable parlor of an Amish farmhouse. Chairs were arranged in a circle around a quilting frame. Bolts of fabric of every color and print imaginable were stacked on shelves on several walls, spools of matching threads on another.

And yarn. There were skeins and skeins of the stuff. Mary Katherine loved running her hands over the fluffy fibers, feeling the textures of cotton and wool and silk. Some of the new yarns made from things like soybeans and corn just didn't feel the same when you knitted them or wove them into patterns— but some people made a fuss over them because they were made of something natural, plant-based, or more sustainable.

Mary Katherine thought it was a little strange to be using vegetables you ate to make clothes but once she got her hands on the yarns, she was impressed. Tourists were, too. They used terms like "green" and "ecological" and didn't mind spending a lot of money to buy them. And was it so much different to use vegetables when people had been taking oily, smelly wool from sheep and turning it into garments for people—silk from silkworms—that sort of thing?

She sighed. "I'm so glad you rescued me from working at the farm. And Dat not understanding about my weaving."

Leah nodded. "Some people need time to adjust."

Taking one of the chairs that was arranged in a circle around the quilt her grandmother and Naomi worked on, Mary Katherine propped her chin in her hand, her elbow on the arm of the chair. "It'd be a lot easier if I knitted or quilted."

Looking at Naomi and Anna, her cousins aged twenty and twenty-three, was like looking into a mirror, thought Mary Katherine. The three of them could have been sisters, not cousins. They had a similar appearance—oval faces, their hair center-parted and tucked back under snowy white kapps, and slim figures. Naomi and Anna had even chosen dresses of a similar color, one that reminded Mary Katherine of morning glories. In her rush out the door, Mary Katherine had grabbed the first available dress and now felt drab and dowdy in the brown dress she'd chosen.

Yes, they looked much alike, the three of them.

Until Mary Katherine stood. She'd continued growing after it seemed that everyone else had stopped. Now, at 5'8", she felt like a skinny beanpole next to her cousins. She felt awkward next to the young men she'd gone to school with. Although she knew it was wrong, there had been times when she'd secretly wished that God had made her petite and pretty like her cousins. And why had he chosen to give her red hair and freckles? Didn't she have enough she didn't like about her looks without that?

Like their looks, their personalities seemed similar on the surface. The three of them appeared calm and serene— especially Naomi. Anna tried to be, but it didn't last long. She was too mischievous.

And herself? Serenity seemed hard these days. In the past several years, Mary Katherine had been a little moody but lately it seemed her moods were going up and down like a road through rolling hills.

"Feeling restless?" Naomi asked, looking at her with concern. Nimbly, she tied a knot, snipped the thread with a scissors, then slid her needle into a pincushion.

Anna looked up from her knitting needles. "Mary Katherine was born restless."

"I think I'll take a short walk."

"No," Leah said quickly, holding up a hand. "Let's eat first, then you can take a walk. Otherwise you'll come back and customers will be here for the afternoon rush and you'll start helping and go hungry."

Mary Katherine was already mentally out the door, but she nodded her agreement. "You're right, of course."

Leah was a tall, spare woman who didn't appear old enough to be anyone's grandmother. Her face was smooth and unlined, and there wasn't a trace of gray in her hair, which she wore like her granddaughters.

"I made your favorite," Leah told Mary Katherine.

"Fried chicken? You made fried chicken? When did you have time to do that?"

Nodding, Leah tucked away her sewing supplies, and stood. "Before we came to work this morning. It didn't take long." She turned to Naomi. "And I made your favorite."

Naomi had been picking up stray strands of yarn from the wood floor. She looked up, her eyes bright. "Macaroni and cheese?"

"Oatmeal and raisin cookies?" Anna wanted to know. When her grandmother nodded, Anna set down her knitting needles and stood. "Just how early did you get up? Are you having trouble sleeping?"

"No earlier than usual," Leah replied cheerfully. "I made the macaroni and cheese and the cookies last night. But I don't need as much sleep as some other people I know."

"Can you blame me for sleeping in a little later?" Mary Katherine asked. "After all of those years of helping with farm chores? Besides, I was working on a design last night."

"Tell us all about it while we eat," Naomi said, glancing at the clock. "We won't have long before customers start coming in again."

"I worry about Grandmother," Anna whispered to Mary Katherine as they walked to the back room. "She does too much."

"She's always been like this."

"Yes, but she's getting older."

"Shh, don't be saying that around her!"

Leah turned. "Did somebody say something?"

"Anna said she's hungry," Mary Katherine said quickly. "And wondering how you picked a favorite when everything you make is her favorite."

Anna poked Mary Katherine in the ribs but everyone laughed because it was true. What was amazing was that no matter how much Anna ate, she never gained weight.

Nodding, Leah continued toward the back room. "We'll have it on the table in no time."

Turning so that her grandmother wouldn't see, Anna lifted her fingers to her lips and mimed smoking a cigarette.

Mary Katherine blushed. "You've been spying on me."

"Food's ready!" Leah called.

"Don't you dare tell her!" Mary Katherine whispered.

Anna's eyes danced. "What will you give me if I don't?"

She stared at her cousin. "I don't have anything—"

"Your afternoon off," Anna said suddenly. "That's what I'll take in trade."

Before she could respond, Anna hurried into the back room. Exasperated, Mary Katherine could do nothing but follow her.

The minute they finished eating, Mary Katherine jumped up and hurried over to wash her dishes. "I'll be right back," she promised, tying her bonnet on the run as she left the store.

Winter's chill was in the air. She shivered a little but didn't want to go back for her shawl. She shrugged. Once she got moving, she'd be warm enough.

She felt the curious stares as if she were being touched.

But that was okay. Mary Katherine was doing a lot of staring of her own. She had a great deal of curiosity about the Englisch and didn't mind admitting it.

She just hoped that her grandmother didn't know how much she'd thought about becoming one of them, of not being baptized into the Amish church.

As one of the tourists walked past, a pretty woman about her own age, Mary Katherine wondered what it felt like being covered in so little clothing. She suspected she'd feel half-naked in that dress she'd heard called a sundress. Although some of the tourists looked surprised when she and her cousins wore bright colors, the fact was that the Ordnung certainly didn't mandate black dresses.

Color had always been part of Mary Katherine's world. She'd loved all the shades of blue because they reminded her of the big blue bowl of the sky. Her father had complained that she didn't get her chores done in a timely manner because she was always walking around ... noticing. She noticed everything around her, absorbed the colors and textures, and spent hours using them in her designs that didn't look like the quilts and crafts other Amish women created.

She paused at the display window of Stitches in Time. A wedding ring quilt that Naomi had sewn was draped over a quilt rack. Anna had knitted several darling little cupcake hats for babies to protect their heads and ears from the cold. And there was her own woven throw made of many different fibers and textures and colors of burnt orange, gold, brown, and green. All echoed the theme of the colder seasons, of the weddings that would come after summer harvests.

And all were silent testament to Leah's belief in the creativity of her granddaughters, thought Mary Katherine with a smile. The shop featured the traditional crafts tourists might expect but also the new directions the cousins came up with.

It was the best of both worlds Mary Katherine said to herself as she ventured out into the throng of tourists lining the sidewalks.

* * *

Jacob saw Mary Katherine exit her grandmother's shop. His timing was perfect because he'd heard from a secret source what time they took a break to eat at the shop during the day.

He watched her stop to gaze at the display window and she smiled—the smile that had attracted him to her. Oh, she was pretty with those big blue eyes and soft skin with a blush of rose over her cheekbones. But her smile.

She hadn't always smiled like that. He started noticing it just a few months ago, after the shop had opened. It was as if she'd come to life. He'd passed by the shop one day a couple of weeks ago and stopped to glance inside, and he'd seen her working at her loom, a look of absorption on her face, a quiet smile on her lips.

Something had moved in his chest then, a feeling he hadn't had before. He'd resolved to figure this out.

He hadn't been in a rush to marry. It had been enough to take over the family farm, to make sure he didn't undo all the hard work that his daed had done to make it thrive. He didn't feel pride that he'd continued its success. After all, Plain people felt hochmut was wrong. In school, they had often practiced writing the proverb, "Der Hochmut kummt vor dem Fall." Pride goeth before the fall.

But the farm, its continuity, its legacy for the family he wanted one day ... that was important to him. To have that family, he knew he'd have to find a fraa. It was important to find the right one. After all, Plain people married for life. So he'd looked around but he had taken his time. He likened the process to a crop—you prepared the ground, planted the right seed, nurtured it, asked God's blessing, and then harvested at the right moment.

Such things took time.

Sometimes they even took perseverance. She had turned him down when he'd approached her and asked her out.

He decided not to let that discourage him.

She turned from the window and began walking down the sidewalk toward him. Look at her, he thought, walking with that bounce to her step. Look at the way she glanced around, taking in everything with such animation, such curiosity.

He waited for some sign of recognition, but she hadn't seen him yet. When they'd attended school, their teacher had often gently chided her for staring out the classroom window or doodling designs on a scrap of paper for the weaving she loved.

Mary Katherine moved through the sea of Englisch tourists on the sidewalk that parted for her when she walked as the waters had for Moses. He watched how they glanced at her the way she did them.

It was a mutual curiosity at its best.

He walked toward her, and when she stopped and blinked, he grinned.

"Jacob! What are you doing here?"

"You make it sound like I never come to town."

"I don't remember ever seeing you do it."

"I needed some supplies, and things are slower now with the harvest in. Have you eaten?" He'd found out from Anna when they took their noontime break, but he figured it was a good conversational device.

"Yes. We ate a little early at the shop."

He thought about that. Maybe he should have planned better. "I see. Well, how about having supper with me tonight?"

"Did you come all the way into town to ask me out?"

Jacob drew himself up. "Yes."

"But I've told you before—"

"That you're not interested in going out."

"Yes."

"But I haven't heard of you going out with anyone else."

She stared at him, oblivious of the people who streamed around them on the sidewalk. "Who did you ask?"

Her direct stare was unnerving. His collar felt tight, but he knew if he pulled it away from his neck he'd just appear guilty. "I'd have heard."

"I'm not interested in dating, Jacob."

When she started past him, he put out his hand to stop her. She looked down at his hand on her arm and then met his gaze. "Is it you're not interested in dating or you're not interested in dating me?"

Her lips quirked. "I'm not interested in dating. It's not you."

"I see."

She began walking again.

"Do you mind if I walk with you?"

"Schur." She glanced at him. "Can you keep up?"

He found himself grinning. She was different from other young women he knew, more spirited and independent.

"Where are we going?"

She shrugged. "Nowhere in particular. I just needed to get out and get some fresh air."

Stopping at a shop window, she studied its display of tourist souvenirs. "Did you ever think about not staying here? In Paradise?"

"Not stay here? Where would you go?"

She turned to look at him and shrugged. "I don't know. It's a big world out there."

"Do I?" she asked. Pensive, she stared at the people passing. "Sometimes I'm not sure where I belong."

He took her shoulders and turned her to face the shop window. "This is where you belong," he told her.

She looked at the image of herself reflected in the glass as he directed. He liked the way they looked together in the reflection. She was a fine Amish woman, with a quiet beauty he'd admired for some time. He'd known her in school and, of course, they'd attended Sunday services and singings and such through the years. He hadn't been in a rush to get married, and he'd noticed she hadn't been, either. Both of them had been working hard, he at his farm, she in the shop she and her grandmother and cousins owned.

He began noticing her shortly after the shop opened for business. There was a different air about her. She seemed more confident, happier than she'd been before.

He reminded himself that she'd said she didn't date.

So why, he asked himself, was he trying again? Taking a deep breath, he turned to her. "Mary Katherine—"

"Jacob!" a man called.

He turned and saw a man striding toward him, a newcomer to the Plain community.

Though the man hailed him, his attention was clearly on Mary Katherine. He held out his hand. "Daniel Kurtz," he said. "Remember me?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Jacob saw Mary Katherine turn to the man and eye him with interest.

"You live in Florida now."

"I do." He studied the shop. "So, this is yours?"

"My grandmother's. My cousins and I help her."

Daniel nodded. "Very enterprising." He glanced around. "Is this the size of crowd you get this time of year?"

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Her Restless Heart - Mary Katherine's Decision!

Mary Katherine was fed up living at home with her controlling Father; besides being controlling her Father was never satisfied with anything Mary Katherine did. There wasn’t any way of pleasing her unbearable Father. When she couldn’t stand it at home any longer she moved in with her Grandmother Leah and works in her Grandmother’s shop called Stitches in Time. Mary Katherine loves her life working in her Grandmother’s shop. She also loves to weave and enjoys coming up with her own designs using textures of cotton, wool, and silk. Mary Katherine’s cousins Naomi and Anna works in her Grandmother’s shop too. It seems like one happy family. She feels the love from her Grandmother and cousins that she doesn’t feel at home. Jacob has been a friend of Mary Katherine’s for a long time. Jacob wants more than friendship and hopes to court her. Mary Katherine has told Jacob she isn’t interested in being anything but friends. Daniel, a long time school friend of Mary Katherine’s and Jacob’s, has come back to Paradise to sell the family farm. Daniel’s family decided to move to Pinecraft, Florida several years ago. Daniel too shows an interest in Mary Katherine and urges her to come visit him in Florida. To the dismay of her parents and grandmother Mary Katherine hasn’t joined the church yet. Her heart is restless and she doesn’t know where she belongs. Does she have enough faith in God to trust Him? Will Mary Katherine leave her Amish upbringing and move toward the English world? Will she go visit Daniel and his family in Florida and end up staying there? Will she fall in love with Jacob and join the church? What will Mary Katherine do to calm her restless heart? The author takes us through the private life of Mary Katherine and her parents. She shows us a side to Amish families that other Amish fiction authors might not. We are taken into the real life of what happens and does happen in some relationships. I really liked that about this book. We can compare it to our way of living also. Are we really so much different? This was another great read of Barbara Cameron’s and I loved it from beginning to end. I can’t wait for book 2, Journey of the Heart, to be released. This will be Naomi’s story. I get the feeling there’s a lot going on in Naomi’s life!

4 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

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SuperBookish

Posted July 13, 2012

I Also Recommend:

A fantastic writer. Good story line. Very well written. A great

A fantastic writer. Good story line. Very well written. A great summer read.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted June 11, 2012

Good

I realy enjoyed this book. I just wish there was more to the ending. It just ended and you are left thinking what? This is it? What is going to happen? Hopefully the next book in the series will fill us in on what happened to Mary Katherine.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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Loved it!

Mary Katherine has grown up with a father who she feels will never be proud of her and a mother that never stands up for her. A year ago she left her parents house and went to live with her grandma Leah who runs a store called stiches in time she works at the store with her cousins Naomi and Anna who are more like sisters. Mary Katherine loves to weave and spends hours at her craft. Mary has no plans to find a man and settle down as she fears marring a man like her father or being like her mom and never standing up for herself. So when Jacob asks to get to know her better she tells him no. He offer to just be friends and slowly she finds him breaking her defenses and causing her heart to stir.

Jacob has been fond of Mary Katherine for years and deep down knows she is the woman for him but he has to first convince her he is the man she needs. When an old friend Daniel returns and shows interest in Mary, Jacob may need to work fast to keep Mary from falling for the wrong man.

Barbara Cameron has become one of my favorite Amish fiction authors. This new book the first in a series was a great read.

What I liked: Barbara Cameron tends to write novels with complex storylines that deal with a lot of emotions. She does a wonderful job of pulling the reader into the story and can make it very hard to put her books down. I really liked Mary Katherine and Jacob. We also meet the main characters for the next two books as well, Naomi and Anna. Even though this is Mary’s story we get enough of a back ground on them that when it comes time to read their stories your going to feel like you know them pretty well already and I can’t wait to read their stories as well.

What I did not like: Mary is very hurt by her father and towards the end of the book things change but I was left feeling like it was unfinished and I wish there had been a little more to that story line.

Over all this was a great book. Mary Katherine also had a English friend who she was close and it was neat to see the relationship between them and how some in the community reacted to it. I also liked how the characters from the last series made a small appearance and gave some details on how they where doing which was fun to read. I am really looking forward to the next book in this series!

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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Loved It!

Mary Katherine has grown up with a very strict Father, and a Mother who never stood up for herself.
She is now living with her Grandmother, and loving being there, and working in the shop with her cousins.
Mary Katherine is weaving what she wants to sell, and is in conflict with the Bishop. He wants her to stop making such English goods, and to join the Church.
Because of her upbringing she has a lot of doubts, and wonders about the English world. She has a long time friendship with Jacob, and Daniel, and her English friend Jamie.
Love the interaction between Leah, the Grandmother and the cousins, Mary Katherine, Naomi, and Anna. You will wonder if this will be enough to hold her here, or will she go to Florida with Daniel?
You will enjoy having Tea with these great people, and interacting with Jacob. A really good read, and can't wait for the next book in this series.

I was provided with a copy of this book Abingdon Press, and was not required to give a positive review.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted July 12, 2012

Nin

1 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted May 22, 2012

Enjoyed this book

But it ended to quickly.It sort of just stopped.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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Bev1951

Posted May 6, 2012

Highly recommended

This was a very good book and I would recommended it to everyone.

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted January 11, 2015

Love isnt easy no matter where you live or what your faith is.

Written beautifully. I wish there was a way to meet the people in this story! When that happens then you know the author did a great job.

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Anonymous

Posted March 9, 2013

Good read

Great amish book. Especially because this book kind of reflects my life right now. Whether to join our church or not. Our church is very much like the amish, we wear what we call velos all the time, like the amish kapp, to pray and women are not allowed to wear pants. We get baptized into church once we are old enough to make the right decision. If we get baptized and then sin, we cant go back to church because we have lost our salvation, but we are not shunned.

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Anonymous

Posted March 6, 2013

Good easy read

I enjoy these amish stories. This is a fun and easy read. It will keep you turning the pages.

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Anonymous

Posted February 5, 2013

Ok

This series is ok. Not the best because the author tends to allow the coflict remain unresolved for too long snd then it suddenly ends.

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Anonymous

Posted January 25, 2013

Highly recommend. This book .

One of those books hard to put down. Enjoyable author makes you feel like you are right there.

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Anonymous

Posted December 17, 2012

Highly recommend

Very good read.

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Anonymous

Posted November 26, 2012

Waiting to see #2

I like Barbara Cameron

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Anonymous

Posted October 10, 2012

EXCELLENT READ!!!!!

Barbara Cameron has become one of my favorite authors!!!! I've loved every book of hers that I've read!!!! It is so great to be reading along in this series, and have someone from The Quilts of Lancaster County series pop up!!! You should love it!!!

MCELWOLF :o)

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Anonymous

Posted September 25, 2012

I loved this book! I'm excited about book 2. Love all of Barba

I loved this book! I'm excited about book 2. Love all of Barbara Cameron's books!

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oldtimerinME

Posted September 7, 2012

Interesting must read

Very interesting book showing conflicts of a person choosing whether to live an Amish or Englisch life and how it affects people around her.

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I really enjoyed this book! Mary Katherine lives with her Grand

I really enjoyed this book! Mary Katherine lives with her Grandmother,actually she feels like she was given a new lease on life when herGrandmother asked her Father if she could live with her and help in hershop in town. Mary Katherine's Daed never treated her right andridiculed her about everything. There was no physical abuse but therewas emotional abuse, not only to Mary Katherine but toward her Motheralso. Weaving was Mary Katherine's favorite thing to do and since movingin with her Grandmother she was free to weave whenever she felt like it.Jacob has known Mary Katherine since they attended school together. Whatshe didn't know was that he loved her quietly, he never said or didanything to let her know. Love and marriage was the farthest thing fromher mind though, she wanted nothing to do with any man, she thought allmen were like her Daed. She was confused as to where she belonged inthis world, she has an Englisch friend, Jamie, and sometimes feels likethe Englisch world would be a lot better than being Amish. When Daniel,another schoolmate, returns from Florida to sell the family farm, heshows an interest in Mary Katherine. Jacob doesn't like what he see'sand starts to show an interest also. Mary Katherine doesn't realize thatthey are both vying for her attention. When Mary Katherine's Mother hasa heart attack she returns home to take care of her because she knowsher Daed won't do anything for himself and her Mother will be doing thedaily chores before she's completely recovered. She was right too! HerDaed had not changed at all during the time she'd been staying at herGrandmothers house, IF he ever talked to her, it was to cut her down.She finally had enough of his treatment and leaves, taking off walkingto town on a rainy day. What will happen to Mary Katherine? You'll haveto read for yourself, no hint from me. I really did enjoy this book, Ithink it's the first book I've read that Barbara has written and I mustsay that I'm looking forward to finding some more by her. You will notbe sorry if you purchase this one. Disclosure of Material Connection: Ireceived this book free from the publisher through the NetGalley bookreview program. I was not required to write a positive review. Theopinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordancewith the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerningthe Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted August 19, 2012

1st Amish fiction I've read

An enjoyable read, it tells the story of a "restless" young woman trying to figure out where she belongs (& with whom she belongs) in life.

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